Vicious, voice-only trivia
Description Voice only trivia game against a rogue AI host. Created by Isabella Djurovic, Jordan Jones-Brewster, and Rachel Moeller.
About the development... The original intent behind this project was to create a game using the Amazon Alexa, and when we as a group soon discovered that it was inaccessible to develop for (at least at the time of this game’s creation), we pivoted to using Windows Voice instead. The original pitch was to create a kind of dystopian game show where Alexa is a GLaDOS-like host who takes great pleasure in watching her contestants fail and become automated laugh tracks for her next victim. This, luckily, didn’t change much when the technology shifted, but the market for our project certainly did, as Windows Voice requires a PC, microphone, and calibrated software.
The design challenges we faced in development was phrasing the trivia questions such that the player would know how to phrase their answer. Because we needed there to be one-word answers, and because pronunciation plays a part in how the software determines the correct response, we had to pay close attention to how playtesters were answering and how they felt about losing. This led to a system where the player could answer as many times as they like in a time limit set after the question is asked, which made it less frustrating to fail a question. We also made the game over sections quite short to allow for the player to jump right back into the trivia, which also encouraged replayability.
I had a lot of fun writing the death scenes and sprinkling in world-building between correct answers. The humor and timing of these voice lines worked to entice the player to continue playing even when they failed because they wanted to know more of the story surrounding the game, which was very rewarding as a designer and writer. If I had more time with the game, I think I would have made the opening, as humorous as it is, quite a bit shorter after the first time it’s heard - this way the player could get back to the game even faster after failing. I would also love to get this on the Amazon Alexa as originally planned! Maybe someday.
